Electric valve-operating gear



Feb- 22, J. L. MACPHERSON E'l AL ELECTRIC vALvE OEERATING GEAR FiledDec. e, 1925 2 sheets-sheet 1 Feb. 22,1927. 1,618,937

J. L. MACPHERSON ET Al.`

ELECTRIC VALVE OPERATING GEAR Filed Deo, 8. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2WITNEssES 'y INVENTOR J I a i ATTORNEYS solenoid 1.5 operates the poweradmission valve. These solenoids are mounted in a bracket 24 attached tothe top of the cylinder bloc.

Above the engine or located at any suitable point is a commutator shaft25 driven by a belt 26 passing` over a pulley 27 on the shaft andconnected at the other end to a pulley 28 on the engine'shaft 29.Mounted on the conimutator shaft are a plurality of commutator drums 30to 43 inclusive. These drums are associated with a plurality of brushes44 to 57 inclusive, which bear on the periphery of the drums. Thesebrushes are mounted on a brush shaft 53. The shaft at one endifs-provided with a yoke bar 59 fixed to a shaft 60 threaded as at 61and operated by a hand-wheel 62 so that the brush shaft can be movedlaterally to move the brushes laterally across the surface of the drums.A magnetic brake such as 63 engages the control shaft 60 to hold it infixed position. One side of this magnetic brake is connected by the wire64 to one side of the power line and the other side is connected by awire 65 to a contact 66 associated with a control bar 67 to be describedlater. Another contact 68 is associated with contact 66 and connected bya wire 69 to a wire 70 connected t0 the other side of the power line. y

The commutator drum 30 and the commutator drum 40 are metal drumssuitably insulated from the shaft 25 and are in constant electricalcontact with the brushes bearing thereagainst. The biush 44 is connectedby a wire 71 to a wire -72 leading to a contactv 73 mounted on thecontrol bar 67. This wire 72 is also connected to one end of thesolenoid 11. The brush 54 is connected by a wire 74 to one side of thepower line. The drums 30 and 40 are called feeder drums because theirbrushes are always in electrical contact tl'ierewith. The drinn 30 isconnected by a continuous wire such as 75 to the drums'31, 32 ant Thedrum 40, which is a feeder drum7 is connected by a wire 76 directly tothe metallic parts of the drums 34 to 43 inclusive. In other words thesetwo feeder drums feed current to all the other drums.

Figures 5 to 9 indica-te the construction of. the drums. As shown, thedrums comprise metallic pulleys 77 insulated from the shaft 25 bysleeves 73 of insulation, and these drums, with the exception of thefeeder drums, are covered by a layer of insulation 79. This insulationhowever, at selected points-is broken away and contact strips such. as80 connected to the metallic portions of the drums extend through theinsulation flush with the surface thereof to make electrical contactwith the brushes. The feeder wires are connected to the metallicportions of thedrums by being connected to suitable binding posts suchas 80 and 81, In the type of drum shown in Figure 8 there is a contactstrip 82 which extends partly around the periphery in the middlethereof. There are three drums, 34, 35 and 36, provided with this sortof contact strip 82. These three drums are the drums which control theexhaust valves of the cylinders under control.

As shown in Figure 2 the magnetic brake comprises an electro-magnet 33having an armature 84 which is attracted to the magnet. This armature isnormally held away from the magnet by a spring 85. This magnetic brakeis of any standard type, the details of which are not shown, but it isso constructed in accordance with the general practice that the'handle62 can only be actuated when the electro-magnet 83 is enei'- gized, andas will be hereinafter made plain, this energization can only take placewhen thc control lever is in the stop position. It will also be notedthat I provide auxiliary power lines 86 and 87 with the switch S3, sothat if the main power fails auxiliary power can be supplied. This powermay be automatically thrown if desired, by relays, which are not shown.

In considering Figures 3 and. 4 which illustrate the details of theconstruction of the control bar and lever, there is provided a base 89on which is mounted a vertical, sector-shaped pedestal 90, the uppersurface of which iscurved and provided with notches such as 91. Acontrol lever 92 is provided with a latch 93 to engage these notches.

This lever is pivoted at 94 and is connected to a lever 95 which in anysuitable manner is adapted to control a supply of fuel to the engine.Lever 92 is .provided with a U-shaped yoke 96 carrying a stem 97 helddownward by a spring 98. The lower end of the stein 97 engages in anotch 99 in the upper edge of a control bar 100. The stein is alsoprovided with a .laterally extending pawl 101 and as the control leveris movedV forward it carries the control bar 100 with. it until the pawl101 engages u rising cam surface 102 fastened to the side of thepedestal 90, thus lifting the stein 97 and disengaging it from the notch99 in the con'.n troller bar 100 which is iniu'iediately snapped back toa normal position by a spring 1.03. The controller bar carries aninsulated wedge piece 104 which tion of tl'ie bar to be inserted betweencon tact springs 105 and 106 connected to wires 69 and 65 as abovementioned, separating these springs and breakingT the circuitbe tweenthese two wires. `When the springs are together the wires areenergized.; These wires are connected'to the magnetic brake abovementioned.

In the opera-tion of the device, assumingr that the switch 23 is closed,the cont-rol lever is moved forward ever so slightly to with-` isadapted in a normal posi- Y fil draw the wedge 104C and permit theengage ment of the spring fingers 105 and 106, thus energizing theelectroanagnet 83, allowing the handle 62 to be moved to set thebrushes, for example, for the ahead movement of the engine. Thecontroller lever is then further advanced until the contact piece 73 onthe bar engages with the contact piece 4 mounted on the. side of t-hepedestal 90, this contact piece beine' connected by la. Wire 70 to thepower line. As this connection is made` the cam 102 engages the pawl 101and t-his causes the disengagement of the controller bar 100 whichsprings back to normal position and causes the deenergiziation of themagnetic brake, so that the handle 02 can be moved. Vfhen the Contactpieces T3 and 107 are connected the current flows from the plus side oft-he power line, as shown in Figure 1, through wire 7 0, through thecontact pieces to wire 72, through the solenoid 11 and returning by wayof wire 21 to the other side of the power line. This actuates he airmaster-valve and the air is admitted into the air trunk lines. The wire72 is also connected by wire 71 to brush lili bearing on feeder drum andthis drum is connected to the three air starting drums 31, 32 and 33,each of which are connected by Wires respectively to the different airstarting solenoids such as 12. As the engine is started under airpressure the various commutator drums are rotated and the brushes aresuccessively brought into engagement with the contact segments thereonto actuate the various solenoids in the proper order.

In reversing the engine as t-he brushes are moved from the 'aheadposition to the astern position they contact with the continuous segment82 Which will energize the exhaust solenoids such as 13 to release thepressure within the cylinders while the engine is being reversed. n

This device is exceedingly simple and eflicient and is substantiallyentirely automatic.

Vhat I claim is:

1. An electrical valve operating gear which comprises av commutatorshaft, a plurality of commutator drums thereon, a plurality of brushesbearing against the drums, a shaft on which said brushes are mounted,means for moving the brushes with respect to the drums, electro-magneticbraking means for controlling the brush-moving means, and manuallyoperated means for controlling the energization of the braking means.

2. An electrical valve operating gear which comprises al controlmechanism including a control lever and a control bar, means fordetachably fastening them together whereby as t-he lever is moved froma. normal position the bar will be moved also, and means in the path ofthe lever' to disengage the detachable fastening means, and means formoving the bar back to normal position when thus detached from thelever, said control lever adapted to actuate fuel-admitting means, aplurality of valves, electro-magneticv means for actuating said valves,and circuit connections and apparatus associated with the control barfor controlling the actuation of said electro-,magnetic means.

3. An electrical valve operating gear which comprises a controlmechanism including a control lever and a cont-rol bar, means fordetachably fastening them together whereby as the lever is moved from anormal position the bar will be moved also. and means in the path of thelever to disengage the detachable fastening means, and means for movingthe bar back to normal position when thus detached from the lever, a.reversing mechanism, an electro-magnetic brake connected thereto andcircuit means extending bet-Ween the brake and the control mechanism`said circuit means being energized by the movement of the control barfrom its normal position, and cle-energized bythe movement of thecontrol bar back to its normal position.

4. An electrical valve operating gear which comprises a commutator drumhaving spaced arcuate contact segments thereon and a centralcircumferential continuous segment, a brush engageable with the drum,means for moving thel brush laterally across the face of the drum, anengine having an exhaust valve, electro-magnetic means for operatingsaid valve, and connection between said electro-magnetic means and thebrush whereby the exhaust valve. is operated as the brush is moved fromone position to the other.

5. An electrical valve operating gear which comprises a controlmechanism in cluding a cont-rol lever and a control bar, a fuel throttleconnected to the lever, electrical circuit-controlling elementsassociated with the bar, means for permitting the movement of the barand the lever for a portion of theirtravel, means for automaticallydisengaging them at a predetermined point in their travel, means forreturning the bar to a normal position, a reversing mechanism, a.magnetic brake associated therewith and means Linder the control of thebar in its norma-l position to control the condition of the brakingmeans..

JOHN L. MACPHERSON. ERIC N. SORENSEN.

